


Mercy is Out of Your Reach

by writeallnight



Category: SEAL Team (TV)
Genre: Abduction, Aches and pains, Bromance, Brotp, Clay Spenser Whump, Coughing, Fever, Pneumonia, Savis, Sickness, Sonny Quinn Whump, Torture, Water Torture, broken ribs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:28:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25273201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeallnight/pseuds/writeallnight
Summary: Sonny Quinn isn't sick. And he's definitely not too sick to escape the cell he and Clay are trapped in. At least, not yet. Contains Clay whump, Sonny whump, a little torture, and a bit of Savis.
Relationships: Lisa Davis/Sonny Quinn
Comments: 11
Kudos: 80





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to be up front; I wrote this story for the whump. There will be lots. Including a little bit of torture (nothing too crazy, that's not really my thing). And bromance. And a little Savis. So basically all my favorite things. Timeline-wise it's set sometime during Season 3 before they deploy. Thanks to bluenet13 who helped me agonize over a title! Enjoy!

Sonny Quinn absolutely, positively did not have a cold. Colds were for sissies and kids, not Tier One Operators. What he had was allergies. Or at least that's what he told Jason when he arrived at the base, coughing and hacking. Because the hell he was being left behind when his brothers were taking off for a mission halfway across the world. He was not staying out of the action for a little cough and runny nose.

"Could you please cough literally anywhere else?" Clay griped, wrinkling his nose as Sonny covered his mouth with his elbow and hacked away.

"You should have stayed home," Brock grunted.

"Let me look at you." Trent pulled out a penlight and Sonny swatted him away with a frown. "Get that thing outta my face."

"I thought you said you were fine," Jason said, cracking open one eye from in his hammock.

"I am. It's allergies."

"To what? Behaving yourself?" Ray asked with a snicker.

Sonny kicked at him. "It's ragweed. And pollen."

"Right. Sure it is," Full Metal grunted.

Sonny stood up and glared at all of them. "If ya'll are going to be assholes I'm just going to take my charming personality to another part of this transport."

"Good."

"Go."

"Yes please."

Sonny shot them all a final scowl before trundling himself off to the back of the plane. He honestly felt a little bit like garbage; his head was full, he couldn't breathe through his nose, and his lungs felt tight. He settled himself against a crate, letting his head drop back as he tried to take a deep breath.

The op was taking them to Morocco to gather intel for Mandy and possibly get to blow things up depending on the results. It wasn't a Gucci mission by any means, but it was lower risk than some of the other ones they'd been on lately and that was probably good because he was already exhausted and they hadn't even started yet.

"What are you doing?"

He cracked open an eye to find Lisa looking down at him. "Sleeping?"

"You should be home."

"I'm fine," he told her, even as he felt his breath catch again and tried to unsuccessfully stifle yet another cough.

"You're sick."

"Quinns don't get sick," he said automatically.

"Stop saying that!" she snapped at him. "Just because that's the line your father lived by, it doesn't mean you have to do it too."

"It's not a line. It's a fact," he said, sniffing as some snot tried to trickle out of his nose.

"You're an idiot."

"You know you keep on saying that to me, it might just hurt my feelings," he told her with a grin.

She walked away and returned moments later with a bottle of water and an orange packet, both of which she tossed into his lap. "Drink this."

He wrinkled his nose. "It tastes like piss."

"Drink it anyway. Might help."

He grumbled but she just crossed her arms and stared at him so he dumped the powdered Vitamin C into the bottle and chugged it down. "Happy?" he asked when he was finished.

"You should let Trent check you out."

"You know, last I knew I was a fully grown adult who could make his own damn choices."

"And last I knew you were a stubborn ass idiot."

"Agree to disagree then."

"If you die, it is not on me."

"Absolutely."

She was obviously still mad at him as she stalked away, probably to go huff at Mandy about stupid men and their lack of care for themselves. But he was fine. He just needed a couple hours of shuteye and he'd be good to go again.

He didn't exactly feel worse by the time they landed, but he definitely didn't feel better either. He sniffed and snorted as they gathered up their gear and headed out for whatever abandoned warehouse/hotel/house they were setting up the TOC in today.

"Ray and Metal are going high on overwatch," Jason said as they briefed. "Clay and Sonny will be at the café. Brock, Trent and I will be in the truck. Remember this is surveillance only. As much as a it sucks," he glanced at Eric who had the good grace not to roll his eyes at his trigger happy team, "do not engage for any reason."

"Not even if they say something mean?" Sonny asked, then rasped out another cough.

"You're really going to make me take Typhoid Mary over here on a stakeout?" Clay asked.

"You know, none of you are being very supportive of my decision to come and watch all your asses," Sonny grumbled.

"All right that's enough," Blackburn said. "Everybody has their assignments. You roll out in twenty."

Jason caught Sonny's arm on the way out of the room. "You sure you're good for this?"

"Yeah Jase. I'm fine."

"We can do the op without you. Trent can take your spot."

"I told you I'm fine. Ya'll need to stop mothering me."

Jason nodded. "Don't screw it up."

"Have I ever?" Sonny grinned and pointed finger guns at him. "Don't answer that."

"Drink this," Clay said later when they were in position. The two of them had taken a corner table in the cafe, backs to the wall so they could keep an eye out for trouble. Both of them were in civvies, caps pulled down low over their faces, backpacks resting on the floor to keep their cover as "American tourists."

"Why do you all keep trying to make me drink stuff today?" Sonny grumbled, sniffing at the cup Clay had put in front of him.

"It's tea. It'll help your throat," Clay said.

"My throat doesn't need any help."

"Sonny shut up and drink the damn tea," Jason said over the comms.

He did as he was told, sipping the bitter brew and wishing it was coffee or a beer instead. Or better yet NyQuil.

"Okay those are our guys," Ray said, static crackling in the background. "Keep it cool and make sure you get that device right."

Sonny shifted in his seat, angling so that the camera button on his shirt would pick up more of the room, while Clay adjusted the listening device masquerading as a pen, right on the edge of the table.

"Bravo Two we are in position," Clay muttered.

"Read you loud and clear Bravo Six. Hold steady."

They got about ten, good minutes before it all went to hell. One second Sonny was sitting with Clay the next he was on the floor, ears ringing and then completely blind as someone threw a bag over his head.

He struggled and kicked his feet, making contact with someone who yelled and the next thing he felt was extreme pain in his skull, likely from the butt of a rifle.

He lost time after that, coming in and out. He was being carried, or rather dragged, and whoever was doing it clearly didn't care about his health and wellbeing. He was vaguely aware of being put into a vehicle with no idea how long the ride lasted. And when he finally came around for real he wished he'd stayed out, because there was a man spraying him with a hose.

He gasped and struggled to get into a seated position, wincing as he touched the knot on the back of his skull.

Something moved next to him. "You all right?" Clay asked, wiping water from his face. His lip was split and there was a lot of dirt on the front of his shirt.

Sonny nodded as he took a good look at their surroundings. Cement walls and floor. Barred door. No window. A prison cell. Shit.

The man who'd sprayed them growled something in a language Sonny didn't understand and then walked away. "D'you get that?" he asked Clay.

"His equivalent of 'Fucking Americans' I think," Clay said. "My Tamazight's rough."

"What the hell man?" Sonny asked. "Did you see anything?"

Clay shook his head, testing the strength of the bars on the door. "Nah it was all smoke and light and then they hit me in the head. You still got your comm?"

Sonny shook his head. "They must have searched us, knife in my boot's gone. And that water took out the button cam if it wasn't damaged already."

His lungs constricted painfully and he coughed wetly into his hand. "All right listen," Clay said coming to stand close to him, back to the hall in case anyone was watching. "You're sick. You need to let me run point on this. I'll get us out of here."

Sonny glared at him. "I am perfectly capable of helping us escape this hellhole."

"I know. I'm just saying let me take point. Let me take the heat."

"I am not letting you take the heat for anything!"

With a rattling clang the cell door slid open and four men entered. Two of them pointed automatic weapons at their captives, while the other two shoved them out of the cell and down the hall.

"Let me handle it," Clay muttered to him.

Sonny shot him a dirty look but didn't have time to respond as they were pushed into a new room. Sonny immediately spotted a tub of water in the corner and several more men, all holding weapons. Double shit.

He and Clay were both forced onto their knees and Sonny felt the barrel of a rifle press into the back of his still aching skull. He gritted his teeth. This was the kind of thing SERE school was made for. But that didn't mean it was going to be easy.

The man who stepped in front of them looked familiar and Sonny had to work to conceal his surprise. Farhad Mahmoudi wasn't supposed to be in country. In fact all their intelligence said he was hundreds of miles away at his home in Iran. This whole scouting trip had been about checking into his network and planning his assassination upon arrival. And here he was, six weeks ahead of the supposed schedule.

"I am so curious," Farhad said, "as to why two Americans were sitting in a café in a part of town they certainly shouldn't be visiting."

With his neatly trimmed beard, glasses, and Ramones t-shirt he didn't look like your typical baddie, but Sonny had learned they took all shapes and sizes. It wasn't fair. Scum of the earth shouldn't be allowed to like the same things as regular folks.

His English was excellent, slightly accented, and Sonny seemed to remember that he'd schooled somewhere Western, maybe London or Oxford. "Well me and my buddy here, we're just on a bit of a vacation," Sonny said quickly, and could feel Clay's glare without looking. He was the senior team member. If anybody was taking heat, it was him.

"A vacation? To this country? An interesting choice. Some might even say dangerous." Farhad's face said he wasn't fooled.

"Well we like a little danger." Sonny grinned at him. "Good for a man. Keeps him strong. Ladies love that."

"I see. This is interesting because all of the American men I have met who look like you, act like you, they are not tourists." He fixed Sonny with a look of steel. "They are American military."

Something slammed into Sonny's back and he choked as he fell face-first into the floor, already sore lungs clenching in his chest as he gasped for air. He heard Clay's surprised grunt as he hit the floor beside him.

"So which is it? Air Force? No." Sonny felt a boot grind into his back, pinning him to the ground and he coughed painfully as his lungs were further constricted. "You are not pretty enough for the Air Force. That one is. But not you. Maybe Army?"

Sonny gasped for air as the boot moved and caught him the ribs, not hard enough to break anything, but enough to make a point. "No, not Army either. Too tough for the Army. Which leaves…" Farhad's sneakers, black Converse, stopped directly in front of his face. "Navy. Are you Navy?"

"We're just tourists," Sonny ground out.

"Not regular Navy then. Regular Navy cracks under pressure. But you, you are trained for this. You are SEAL's."

Someone grabbed Sonny's hair and dragged him painfully off the floor toward the tub in the corner of the room, Farhad's voice following him as he went. "I hear SEAL's like the water. Let's see if this is true."

Before Sonny could even think his head was shoved under the surface.

There were tricks to water torture. You had to turn off just enough to not really feel it, but stay with it enough to hold your breath. None of that took into account the fact that Sonny's brush with death in a torpedo tube made water of any kind an instant panic situation. He felt his body start to thrash, tried to lift his head and gulped water instead, burning inside this throat until he thought he couldn't take it anymore and then he was yanked from the tub, gasping, dripping, and shaking.

"Hmmm, you really can hold your breath quite a long time can't you? Let's see for how long."

Sonny lost count of how many times he went under. Every time he came up he could hear Clay yelling something fierce and he could only hope that they weren't doing anything nearly as terrible to his buddy.

His lungs grew tired and it became harder and harder not to inhale water. He was close to blacking out and if that happened he was going to drown. Every ounce of adrenaline he had in him seemed to seep away as water came up his nose and down his throat. And then, mercifully, he was pulled out and dropped onto the floor, gasping and hacking away like a dying fish.

Someone pulled him to his feet and dragged him back to the cell. Clay was tossed in beside him and the door slammed shut. "Sonny!" Clay grabbed his arm and rolled him onto his side. "Sonny talk to me."

Sonny's chest felt like it was on fire so it took him a second to gasp out an answer. "I'm…okay," he finally managed.

"God could you be any more stupid?" Clay asked, his voice shaky. "Next time let me take it."

"What'd," Sonny hacked, trying to clear mucus from his throat, "what'd you tell them?"

"Stuck with your story. We're backpacking. Always wanted to see Morocco. Asked if they knew the best place to get some girls."

Sonny tried to bark out a laugh but it came out as a cough instead. "Your storytelling is always something." He managed to heave himself up and back against the wall so he could look at his friend. "They hurt you? You were yelling pretty loud."

Clay shook his head. "Not really. Couple kicks here and there. I'm fine. I was yelling to try and get them to stop, not that they were listening. Farhad made it pretty clear they only need one of us. And I don't think he's particular about which one it is. He's ready to pit us against each other, see who cracks first."

Triple shit.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...there's no physical whump in this chapter. I know. It's the reason we're all here and now I've taken it away from you. But I PROMISE there is a lot more coming. Instead, enjoy Jason's emotional agony!

"I want to know where they are _now_ ," Jason demanded, hands on his hips as he paced the room in agitation.

"We lost ISR because the drone hit a bird," Davis said, fingers flying over her keyboard. "I'm contacting our allies to see if anybody eyes in the sky that we can take a look at."

"Well do it faster," Jason snapped.

"Jay." Ray was leaning against the wall, calm as ever and it just pissed Jason off more.

"Don't!" he said, holding up a hand in warning. "They were right there and we didn't get to them in time and now they're _gone_."

"We're all doing everything we can," Ray said. "It doesn't help anything to go flying off the handle."

"Well it makes me feel better." He ran a hand over his face. "I want to know why they were taken."

"Might not be connected to the op," Blackburn said. "Maybe they saw two Americans and thought it would be a good ransom grab."

Jason fixed him with a look. "You really believe that?"

"I'm just trying to cover all our bases Jason."

Things had gone to hell so unbelievably fast. One second they were listening in on a conversation, the next there had been screaming and banging and by the time Jason, Trent, and Brock had gotten into the café it had been emptied out. Clay and Sonny's comms had both gone offline immediately and Sonny's button cam shorted out shortly thereafter. They'd circled the whole town for nearly two hours, searching for any sign of their brothers before Blackburn had called them back to base.

It felt like they'd abandoned Clay and Sonny and it was eating at Jason's gut. You didn't leave your brothers behind. Not for anything. "You all should take a break," Blackburn said.

God damn the man and his indefatigable calm in times like these. All Jason wanted to do was rip a room apart, while guys like Blackburn and Ray could just stand around like it was any other day; like having teammates in mortal danger was no big deal. "No. We're not leaving until we find them," he said.

"Nobody's putting you on a plane home Jason. You all need a break," Mandy said. "Go. We'll call you when we find something."

Not if; when. Leave it to Mandy to be so sure. But Jason knew that finding them was only half the battle. For all they knew their boys were already dead. And every moment they stayed missing would only make that more likely.

"C'mon Jay," Ray said as the other guys moved slowly out of the room.

The team settled at a table in the makeshift mess, everybody eating out of duty rather than actual hunger. "You gotta eat Jason," Trent said quietly as Jason stared moodily at his dinner.

"Yeah well they're probably not eating." Jason's leg was jumping under the table and he ran a hand up and down his thigh, anxiety crawling inside him. There were two of them, they could support each other. Unless they weren't together. And either way, with Sonny sick…

"Which is all the more reason you should," Ray said. "Need to be on top of our game if we're going to get them back."

They were right so he swallowed something down, but his mind was still in overdrive. "Let's go over it again."

"We've been over it Jason, nothing's going to change," Full Metal said.

"We're going over it again," Jason ground out.

They all shot looks at one another but nobody protested further so he pushed ahead. "Ray and Full Metal were on overwatch. What did you see?"

Ray sighed. "Everything was going according to plan. We went high, rooftop across the street. View of the front of the café. I got on the scope, Metal was there with back up."

"Clay and Sonny entered the café. Thirty-two minutes later some of Farhad's guys entered. At forty-three minutes there was a bang and we saw smoke coming out of the front of the café," Metal continued. "Nobody came out the front but civilians. The targets did not reappear and neither did Clay or Sonny."

"And we were down the block in the van," Brock said. "Eyes on the back door the whole time. Nobody came out there either."

"Then how the hell did they get out of there?" Jason asked. "If they'd been taken on foot we would've caught up with them. Why didn't we see them get thrown in a truck or a van?"

"Could have been an alley door," Trent said. "Space between the buildings is so narrow, Davis said they couldn't get a good look on ISR."

"You're telling me they took out two Tier One operators and managed to drag them down an alley?"

"They weren't heavily armed," Brock said. "Sonny was off his game. If they surprised them and there were enough guys…"

Jason worked his jaw. "We need another look at that café."

He stood, intent on heading out immediately but Blackburn appeared as if he sensed his team leader about to fly off the handle. "Not tonight you're not. Nobody outside the wire."

"They don't have—"

"Time. I realize that," Eric said. "But you can't go back in the dead of the night and start snooping around. If anybody sees you they could tip off the captors and then we'll never find them. Not to mention it could compromise the op we came here for in the first place. Let us work the problem overnight and you can head back out in the morning." He looked at the rest of the team. "Get some sleep. All of you. You're going to need it."

Jason felt the team watching him, waiting for the okay. He gave a short nod. "Go."

His eyes stayed on Blackburn. "I want an answer Eric."

"We all do," Blackburn assured him. "Get some sleep. If we find anything I'll come get you myself."

Jason took his time heading back to their temporary bunk room, unable to stop his mind from turning over and over. All of this for some chatter that might not even be anything. They'd come here to find out when Farhad Mahmoudi was planning to arrive and who else might be meeting with him. Instead they'd ended up down two brothers.

The tightness in his chest was creeping back in and he took a few deep breaths trying to keep it at bay. He couldn't lose it. Not now. Not with Sonny and Clay's lives on the line.

Everyone was up before sunrise and when Blackburn saw them coming through the door he didn't seem surprised. Davis and Mandy were both still there, Mandy looking at a map of the area while Davis had her ear glued to the phone.

"Anything?" Jason asked.

"We would have gotten you if there was," Blackburn said.

Judging from the many empty coffee cups littering the table none of the support staff had slept. Jason felt a rush of gratitude toward them and also a smidge of guilt. Yes, Bravo needed sleep to be ready for a rescue op, but it stung to leave the work up to the rest of the group.

Davis hung up the phone, defeat all over her face. "I've called everyone I can think of. No one else had eyes on this area during the time Clay and Sonny were taken. France has a team in country, they said they'll help if we need a rescue op, and everyone has promised to let us know if they hear chatter, but we have no additional visuals."

It was clear from the silence of the group that they were disheartened. Hours of work and they were no closer to finding their brothers. Jason looked to Eric. "We good to go take another look?"

"I'll authorize it," Blackburn said. "But I don't need to remind you to keep things quiet."

"It'll be like we're not even there," Jason told him, already halfway to the door.

They all piled into a trucks, choosing to leave Cerberus behind rather than attract attention with a domesticated dog on a leash. "Ray and Brock are going into the café," Jason said as they drove. "Metal, Trent and I will scout the outside. Be on the alert. They took our boys once, let's not give them anybody else."

Ray met his eyes. "We're going to find something."

Jason nodded. They had to. There was no other choice.

Ray and Brock headed inside cafe while Trent, Metal, and Jason began casually scanning the street. Jason immediately walked to the back of the café and then around the side. Sure enough there was an alley. It was narrow, but just big enough for a man to walk through. Further inspection in the dirt showed him drag marks, making his chest feel tight all over again.

"Jase!"

He looked up to find Metal and Trent beckoning him further down the alley. "There's a door here," Metal said, nodding toward it.

"The drag marks go right up to it," Trent said. "If they took them into this building and came out further down the block or around the corner, could explain why we didn't see anything."

Jason nodded. "Let's take a walk."

They left the alley and continued their walk up the street. Crisscrossing tire tracks covered the road making it impossible to tell which might have belonged to a vehicle carrying two Navy SEALs. He was just about to suggest they move on when a shop on the other side of the street caught his eye. "Hey," he nodded toward it.

"That a camera?" Metal asked.

"Looks like." Jason thought for a moment. "Let's get Ray and Brock over here."

It didn't take long for Bravo Two and Bravo Five to rejoin them. "Anything?" Jason asked.

"Lot of the same faces we saw yesterday," Ray said. "Definitely a spot for locals. D'you find something?"

"There's a shop across the street that looks like it might have a camera," Trent said. "If we could get a look at that footage…"

One hastily constructed plan later, Ray and Brock wandered into the store, making sure to go as far from the door as possible before Brock "accidentally" smashed something very expensive looking. Jason snuck in the front door and slipped behind the counter unnoticed as the owner went back to yell at the two tourists who were destroying his merchandise. He felt a wave of relief when he immediately found the connections for the camera and an even more relief when it turned out to be an extremely old model with a tape. Hopefully the owner wouldn't notice it was missing for a while. He pulled it and hustled back the truck, waiting anxiously for Ray and Brock to settle up and head on back.

"Did you get it?" Brock asked when he and Ray slid into the back.

Jason nodded as Metal floored it and took them back to base.

God bless Davis who had somehow managed to procure an appropriate player for the tape by the time they returned. "What did you have to do to get this so fast?" Ray asked as she inserted the tape.

She smiled. "A magician never reveals her secrets."

"Listen, it's going to take time for us to go through this," Mandy said. "And it doesn't help to have you breathing down our necks. Go take a break. We'll get back to you."

"We're not leaving," Jason said. Why did everyone keep trying to kick them out of this?

"Mandy's right," Lisa said. "Having all of ya'll standing around watching isn't going to help. Get outta here." She locked eyes with Jason. "You'll be my first call."

He nodded. He didn't like it. But he trusted Lisa and Mandy. If anybody was going to find their boys, it would be them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised more whump and here it is! And this isn't even the end of it! Enjoy!

Clay wasn't a doctor, but he could tell Sonny was in bad shape. It had been a little over forty-eight hours, by his best estimate, since they'd been taken, and his buddy looked like he was going downhill fast. Sonny's clothes still weren't completely dry from the initial soaking and subsequent near drowning. He was propped against the wall, arms crossed over his chest as if he was trying to keep himself warm, and his breathing seemed labored.

His own back was bruised and hurting from the minor beating he'd taken, but he was doing fine by comparison. At least they'd been pretty well left alone since their initial chat with Farhad. Maybe he had too many other things on his bad guy agenda to pay attention to his American prisoners. Although Clay suspected that wasn't going to last much longer. "You all right?" he asked.

"Right as rain," Sonny grunted, but he didn't lift his head.

"You got a plan yet for getting us out of here?" Clay asked, switching topics since Sonny didn't seem interested in talking about himself.

Sonny squinted at him. "You asking me that cuz you really want to know? Or cuz you've already got one and you want to show off?"

He wished he had a plan. If he did they'd be out of here by now. But so far everything he'd come up with wasn't feasible. Not while they were locked in this cell with armed guards all up and down the hall. Not with Sonny so sick. But maybe together they could come up with something. "Guards come by every half hour. Always in twos," he said.

"There were six more cells and four doors between here and that room they took us to."

Clay nodded; he'd noticed the same thing. "The girl who dropped the water off."

That had been sometime yesterday. She'd been young, afraid. The guards waited outside while she set down the bucket and two plates of food. There had been no direct eye contact and when Clay had attempted to speak to her she'd flinched away and out the door as fast as she could.

"Could be somebody's daughter," Sonny said before coughing into his elbow.

"Hey you need to drink more man," Clay said, taking in Sonny's gray pallor.

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"Don't matter how I look." Sonny offered up a weak smirk. "'Sides, you heard Farhad. You're the pretty one anyway."

The cell door clanged open and four guards stepped in. "We doing this again?" Sonny asked as the weapons were pointed at them and a command issued that clearly meant, "Get up."

Back down the same hall, back into the same room. This time they didn't waste a second; Sonny was dragged immediately over to the tub and dunked under. "Hey!" Clay struggled against the guards holding him and received several blows to his kidneys for his trouble. "Leave him alone!"

They pulled Sonny up and he made a horrible gasping, retching sound before they plunged him back under. In desperation Clay lashed out and managed to knock down one of his captors, the other thrown off balance, his grip going loose. Clay pulled away and made it about two feet toward Sonny before all his muscles seized at once and he collapsed. It was only when the excruciating pain finally hit that he realized what had happened. A stun gun. They'd struck him with a stun gun.

He wasn't sure how much time passed, but by the time he was coherent again he could only lay groaning on the floor. There was a wet slap beside him and was able to turn his head enough to find Sonny in a similar position, coughing as if his lungs were trying to leave his body. "We're just tourists," Clay managed to gasp out. "We don't know what you want. Please let us go."

"I don't believe you," Farhad said. "You are American military. Stop trying to make me think otherwise."

"Man please, please just let us go," Clay begged.

It got him a boot to his ribs. "Tell me what you were doing in that café."

"We were just eating man! My buddy's got a cold, we got him some tea!"

Another kick that had him curling in on himself in pain. "I am losing my patience!" Farhad spat. "As I said before, I only need one of you. If you won't talk, perhaps your wet friend over here will."

Clay watched in horror as they pulled Sonny off the ground. One man pinned his arms behind his back while the other drew back his fist and punched him in the mouth. Sonny let out a sickened moan, blood dribbling onto the floor as they sank a second punch into his gut.

"Hey, hey stop it!" Clay yelled. "Leave him alone! He's sick! Leave him alone!"

"Tell me what I want to know." Farhad's eyes were menacing.

Clay clenched his teeth. "We're just tourists."

"Fine then. I'm going to give you one more night to think about it. Tomorrow, I won't care so much if either of you live. Or if your face stays too pretty for the Navy."

Clay couldn't tell if Sonny was conscious or not as they were dragged back to the cell. He waited for the door to shut before dragging himself over to his friend. "Sonny! Sonny hey! Hey look at me. Talk to me."

Sonny remained listless, eyes fluttering and then mumbled something unintelligible. Clay shook him, trying not to hurt him any further, but needing him to be conscious.

"'m 'wake," Sonny mumbled, rolling onto his side and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"How bad are you hurt?"

"Not bad." He coughed and it sounded painful.

"Drink some water." Clay reached for the bucket with aching, trembling muscles and pushed it toward him.

"Don't need—"

"Damn it Sonny, drink some water!" Clay said desperately. He didn't have any other way to help his brother and he was grasping at straws. The least Sonny could do was listen.

"You drink some," Sonny rasped. "I just drank half a damn swimming pool. You're the one that got hit with a stun gun. Probably still can't feel your feet."

It was true, he couldn't. His head ached and the muscle in his left calf kept cramping, along with his back and shoulders. "We'll both drink some."

He waited for Sonny to take a couple sips and then took his own. Sonny coughed painfully again and let his head fall back against the wall, struggling to get a full breath. Clay swallowed hard and closed his eyes. They needed to be found. Soon.

* * *

His lungs ached. Every inhale was like breathing through a straw and every cough made sent fire through his chest. He couldn't remember ever being this sick. What had just been a cold had definitely turned into something far worse.

He knew Jason and the team were searching for them. But he also knew that their abduction had come out of nowhere and there was a good chance that they might not find them in time.

Or ever.

He was grateful that so far they'd gone easier on Clay. He was the senior man, the brunt of whatever was happening should fall to him. But damn it would be nice if they stopped giving him so many baths.

Something caught in his chest and he hacked out a cough into his elbow, gasping for air and taking a sip of water to soothe his raw throat and burning lungs. When he looked up Clay was watching him.

"How bad is it?" he asked.

Sonny shook his head, suppressing another cough as much as he could. "Not bad."

"Sonny."

"Don't matter. Ain't nothing you can do about it anyway."

"You're shivering."

"Stone floor." Sonny tapped it with his fist. "Cold as ice. Even in the summer."

Clay slid closer so they were side by side and put a hand to Sonny's forehead. "You've got a fever."

No wonder his joints ached and his head felt like a bag of wet cement. "Little fever never hurt anybody."

"Yeah except for the part where it could kill you or fry your brain like an egg."

"Eh, not much up there anyway," Sonny said with a grin, wincing when it made his split lip pull and start bleeding again. With how painful each breath was he'd almost forgotten that they'd thrown a couple sucker punches in for good medicine.

"Sonny—"

"So tell me about Rebecca."

Clay raised his eyebrows at the abrupt change of subject. "You don't like Rebecca."

"But I like you." Sonny tried to settle into a more comfortable position and then gave up. Everything was uncomfortable when you couldn't breathe. "And you like her. Sell her to me."

"Sell her to you?"

"You know what I mean. Tell me what's good about her. Give me all the dirty details."

"I'm not—" Clay shook his head. "She's smart."

"Well I figured that Mr. 'War and Peace is Bedtime Reading.' You're always going for the hot and nerdy ones."

"She's passionate."

"Now we're getting somewhere."

Clay rolled his eyes. "I mean about her job. She really cares, you know? Wants to make change."

"Ah, one of those."

"Yeah one of those. But she means it. I can tell. She makes me feel…like maybe I can do something more, you know? Be better. Make the world a better place."

Sonny shrugged. "Kinda thought you already did that."

"You know what I mean. In a different way. A bigger way."

"You want bigger I'll let you handle the explosives next time we need 'em."

"That's not what I'm talking about."

"Well, I can appreciate wanting to make things better." He squinted at his friend. "Don't tell me the looks don't have anything to do with it though."

Clay tried and failed to cover up his smirk. "She is definitely…nice to look at."

"Ha! I knew it!" The laugh cost him and he started coughing again. "Damn it."

He took a shaky breath trying to get under control. "You all right?" Clay asked.

"I'm fine. Fine as I'm gonna be." Every breath felt like knives, but sure. He was fine.

"So what about you and Davis?"

Just the mention of her name and it felt like he'd been shot directly through the heart. "What about it?"

Clay looked at him. "You never really told me all that happened there."

He didn't want to talk about this now. Or maybe ever. "We were together, then we weren't. Job got in the way."

"But when you were together, it was good?"

"Best thing I've ever had," Sonny said, throat feeling tight as memories flitted through his mind.

"D'you love her?"

Sonny fiddled with a stray string on his shirt. "We loved each other."

The use of past tense felt like a lie even as it passed his lips. Sitting here in this filthy hellhole he knew: he still had feelings for her. He'd probably always have feelings for her. Their's was a story left unfinished and now…it looked like they might never get a shot at a happy ending.


	4. Chapter 4

"You need to take a break."

Lisa ignored Mandy, clicking away as her eyes swept back and forth across the screen, desperately looking for clues.

"Lisa!"

Apparently Mandy wasn't going to leave her alone. "I'm fine," she said, rubbing a hand across her burning and blurry eyes.

"No, you're not." Mandy crossed her arms over her chest. "You haven't slept in days. This isn't helpful, it's destructive to your health. You need to get something to eat and some sleep and try again in six hours."

"I just had something to eat."

"Sleep then. Lisa come on."

She couldn't. She wouldn't leave them. Clay and Sonny were out there alone, probably being tortured as they spoke; or worse. She had to find them and bring them home.

A hand on her shoulder made her jerk so violently she felt her neck pop. "Whoa hey! It's just me," Ray said. "Come on."

"I can't—"

"Yes you can. Come on. Blackburn and Mandy are on it. You need a break."

"Sonny and Clay aren't getting a break!" She knew it was a ridiculous statement, but she was so exhausted and broken hearted and desperate and all she could think about was the horrible things that might be happening to them.

Ray looked at her and held out his hand. Defeated she took it, letting him pull her to her feet and walk her to the mess. "I just ate," she said as he put a plate in front of her.

"A protein bar three hours ago doesn't count as eating." He nodded toward the food. "Go on now."

She took a couple bites, her stomach in knots. "Why can't I find them?" she finally asked.

"Davis this is not on you, all right? The whole team is working together on this—"

"Then why don't we know where they are?" She could feel hot tears rising up and tried to blink them away. "Why haven't we found a single shred of evidence that points us in their direction?"

"I don't know. But we will find them. We've never left anyone behind before, we're not doing it this time either."

She wanted to believe him. She wanted to hold onto the thin, thread of hope he was offering. But without anything else to tie it to it was just that: a useless, dangling thread.

"Do you think—" She swallowed hard, struggling to get the words out, but needing to know the answer. "Are they—?"

"Sonny and Clay know what they're doing. They'll keep each other safe," Ray said firmly.

Lisa bit back her automatic response which had to do with how every, single one of these stupid men thought they were invincible. They could all bleed and she'd seen it happen one too many times to believe they were going to find Sonny and Clay completely unscathed.

"Now, you need to go get some sleep. Six hours. If any of us see you back in there before then we're going to send you right back to bed, understood?" Ray said.

She was tempted to ask what exactly made him think he could boss an officer around, but sitting here had made her realize just how exhausted she was. Her body felt heavy with fatigue, even though her mind wouldn't stop spinning. As much as she wanted to stay and help, she needed to sleep.

Ray walked her to her door, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder before he left. Lisa didn't even bother taking off her clothes, falling directly into her bunk where she curled up into a ball, finally letting the tears flow. All she wanted was Clay and Sonny home and safe.

She rolled onto her side, wrapping her arms around her pillow as she tried to keep full on sobs from erupting. She knew she'd been distant lately, that she'd pulled back from the team. She'd told herself so many times that it was the only way for things to move forward. For her to move on from Sonny. But now…now she regretted every phone call she'd ignored, every time she'd spotted him at a distance and pretended not to. Why couldn't she have just let things go back to the way they had been? Why had she spent so much time trying to prove to him that she didn't need him? That she was better off without him?

All of this should have kept her wide awake, but between the physical exhaustion of having been up for too many hours and the emotional weight of fear and guilt, sleep claimed her quickly.

_She was following someone through the streets. Someone small, a child. No, a teenager walking ahead of her. Lisa couldn't see the teen's face and she didn't know where they were going, but she knew she had to keep following. It was important. It was important because…someone needed help. Someone needed her help and this teenager…this girl. It was a girl._

Lisa sat bolt upright, the last image of her dream still burned into her brain. A glance at the clock told her it had only been two hours, not the six Ray had demanded, but that didn't matter.

"Davis, you're supposed to be asleep," Eric said when she burst through the door.

She didn't bother reminding him that he hadn't slept in about three days. She logged on and pulled up the surveillance footage the guys had stolen from the shop. She fast forwarded slowly, stopping and starting until…"There!"

She pointed a finger at the screen. Blackburn and Mandy both squinted. "What are we looking at?" Mandy asked.

"That girl," Lisa said. "I have watched every second of footage on this tape. It's about a week's worth and she comes to the café every, single day around one o'clock." She looked at her team members in desperation. "I just feel like she's the key somehow."

Mandy's eyes went wide and she shuffled a stack of papers until she found the one she was looking for. "Farhad has a thing for tea. He has it flown in from all over the world. But a big part of the reason he's here is because this café brews a particular blend that's his favorite."

"He's sending an errand girl to get his daily Starbucks?" Blackburn asked. "How sure are you? I don't want to tell the guys unless this is concrete."

Mandy shrugged. "He's used children for work in the past. I wouldn't be surprised if he's using one again."

Blackburn looked unconvinced. They all wanted something, anything to go on, but it was definitely a reach. "It's all we've got," Lisa said finally.

He nodded. "Then I'll call the team."

* * *

They were following a little girl. Literally following a child, hoping that somehow, magically, she was the key to finding their teammates. "This is the dumbest thing we have ever done," Jason growled to no one in particular.

"You don't want to do it, we can head back," Ray said. "You don't think it's worth our time…"

But it had been days and this was the only lead they had. And it showed how desperate they were that they were even entertaining the idea in the first place. Jason shook his head. "Let's just try not to get caught."

Only he and Ray had come out, opting to observe and follow quietly to cause less of a ruckus. Sure enough the girl had shown up at the café right at one o'clock, just like she had every day in the tape. Now they were following her through the village while she carried a paper sack in one hand. She wasn't in a hurry, didn't seem in a rush to get to her destination and it was driving Jason crazy.

"We're wasting time," Jason muttered as they turned around yet another corner on yet another street that looked exactly the same as all the rest.

"I'm only going to say this one more time, if you want to go back—"

"No. Let's keep going. Better than sitting around doing nothing."

"Well then stop whining about it like Sonny."

The jab slammed hard in his gut. This might be a waste of time, but Ray was right; it was better than doing nothing. And if it got them closer to getting their boys back, it was worth it.

The girl took another turn but this time she headed out of town. Jason and Ray were relegated to sneaking along behind trees and boulders. If it had been anyone older or more seasoned they would have been caught, but luck was on their side today.

Ray spotted the building first, catching Jason's arm and pulling him behind an outcropping of rocks. "Anybody doing lookout duty's gonna spot us," he said quietly. "Let's go up."

They scaled the cliffside, staying low to the ground, doing their best to stay out of sight. They reached the top just in time to see the girl disappear inside. "Well at least we know where she's going now," Ray said, still slightly out of breath from their climb.

"Yeah but how the hell do we know if Sonny and Clay are inside?" Jason asked.

Ray pulled out his binoculars and took a good, long look. "I don't know brother. No windows. No way to get eyes in there. It's like a fortress."

Jason worked his jaw. "Then we have to take the girl."

Ray looked taken aback. "You're not seriously suggesting we kidnap a child?"

"That is _exactly_ what I'm suggesting."

"Jason we cannot kidnap that girl." Ray's voice was low and dangerous.

Jason felt heat rising in his chest. He didn't like it either. Hated the idea. But he'd done worse. And he would do a lot worse again to save his brothers. "You got another option? Sonny and Clay could be in there. They could be getting tortured, hell they could be dead. You really want to give them up because taking a kid makes everybody uncomfortable?"

"Maybe we don't have to take her. She's just a kid. Maybe…maybe we can just talk to her."

"Soon as we approach her she's going to sound the alarm. Two men alone? She's not going to come quietly."

"Just…let me try."

Jason stared at him, torn between trusting his number two and just barreling ahead as fast and hard as he could to get Sonny and Clay back. "You get one shot. If it doesn't work, we're taking her."

An hour later they were tailing the girl back into town. "One try," Jason reminded him as they reached the outskirts.

Ray nodded and touched his comm. "Okay, let's roll."

Cerberus came bounding out from between the buildings, running right up to the girl and dropping a ball in front of her, tail wagging like he was a common puppy rather than a deadly attack dog. The girl stopped short, startled at first and then, as Cerberus continued to nudge playfully at her skirt, she reached to pick up the ball.

Jason and Ray watched as she gave it a short toss. Cerberus bounded away and then returned quickly, dropping it directly at her feet. "Good boy," Jason breathed.

They let the scene play out a few minutes longer, letting the girl relax and grow more comfortable. Ray looked to Jason who nodded. "Bravo Five, you're on."

"Cerberus!" Brock came out from behind a building and gave a sharp whistle. The dog ran over dropping the now slimy ball at his handler's feet. "There you are! What have I told you about running off?"

The girl had stepped back, cautious now at the appearance of a stranger. Brock flashed her a smile. For such a quiet guy he could be incredibly charming when he turned it on. "Hi. Thanks for finding my dog."

"You're American?" The girl's English was accented but easily understandable.

"I am. My name's Brock. What's yours?"

"Amira."

"Nice to meet you Amira. This is Cerberus. Do you like dogs?"

"I like all animals."

"Me too!"

"Get to the point Brock," Jason muttered as the pleasantries continued.

"He'll do it," Ray said.

It was another ten agonizing minutes of Brock breaking down the girl's defenses with conversation and kindness. "Hey, maybe you could help me," he finally said. "I had some American friends come through here earlier this week but I haven't heard from them. You haven't seen them around have you?"

The girl's face immediately grew wary. "No."

"Are you sure? One's real big. The other one has blond hair. I just want to make sure they're okay."  
Cerberus nudged the girl's leg, letting her pet his head. "I—"

"You won't be in trouble," Brock said. "I promise. Here."

He pulled a wad of bills out of his pocket, more money than the girl had probably seen in her entire life. "Please."

She tentatively reached for the money. "I have seen them. The big one is very sick."

Alive. They were alive. A mixture of worry and relief twisted inside Jason's gut and he tried to force it away. The information didn't mean anything if they couldn't get to their friends.

"Where Amira? Where did you see them?"

Her voice was hardly more than a shaky whisper. "The bad man. He took them. Outside of town. I bring the bad man his tea. And he makes me take them food and water."

"How many men Amira? How many are inside?"

"I don't know. Many."

Brock's eyes were full of sympathy. "Do they hurt you?"

She quickly shook her head. "But they say they will. If I do not help them. Can you…can you make them leave?"

"I can try."

She nodded. "I hope you find your friends."

Brock clipped on Cerberus' lead. "Me too."

Jason and Ray waited only until Amira was out of sight before coming out of hiding and joining Brock. The group of them hustled back to the truck where Metal and Trent were waiting, already in full tactical gear. "It's not a lot," Ray said, pulling on his vest.

"It's more than we had an hour ago," Jason said.

"Good thing we brought the big guns," Metal said, flicking off the safety.

For the first time in days Jason allowed himself a smile. "Good thing."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who. Is. Ready. For. Whuuuuump?! If you're not, you'd better get ready, because it's here. Enjoy!

A strangled, choking gasp pulled Clay from his sleep. "Sonny?"

Bravo Three lay on the floor, body rigid as he struggled to get air into his lungs. Clay moved toward him, shifting so he could get Sonny's head into his lap. "Breathe," he commanded, willing it with every fiber of his being. "Sonny breathe damn it!"

Sonny's eyes remained closed, sweat beading on his forehead. Clay could feel the heat of his skin through Sonny's shirt. He grabbed the hem of his own shirt and tore off a piece, dipping it in their water bucket and pressing it against Sonny's forehead.

A moment later, too long for Clay's comfort, Sonny sucked in a half decent breath and his eyes fluttered open. "Clay," he rasped.

"Right here." Clay squeezed his arm reassuringly. "How was your nap princess?"

Sonny tried for a chuckle but it ended with a series of coughs and a long wheeze that doubled Clay's worry. "Gotta…get…my beauty sleep."

"Well I hate to tell you this, it's not helping much," Clay said forcing a smile and dabbing more cool water on his forehead.

"Still prettier'n you."

"And you always will be."

Sonny shifted, wincing as another breath rattled around in his lungs. "Clay—"

Clay felt a ripple of fear down his spine. He knew that tone of voice. "You just shut up and relax all right? Pretend I'm Diamond or Candy or…Sunshine at the Pleasure Palace."

"Listen—"

"Sonny—"

"You gotta let me say it."

"We're gonna get out of here," Clay said, his voice cracking as he tried to stay calm. "You don't need to say anything."

"But if we don't—"

"No!" Clay dabbed the cloth more furiously. "They're coming. Jason, Brock, Trent, Ray, Metal, they're all coming for us."

"Sometimes," Sonny wheezed, "sometimes the cavalry comes too late."

"That's not going to happen this time."

"But if it does—"

"It won't—"

"Damn it just let me talk!" Sonny huffed.

Clay went quiet, not ready for what he was about to hear. Sonny took a breath. "You been, you been real great. I know I've been…not myself lately and I'm sorry. Clay you're my brother, and I—I was too torn up about my own stuff to be real nice about everything with Rebecca, so I'm sorry for that. You've been a good friend, a good teammate and it's been-" his voice caught, "it's been an honor to serve with you."

Clay's throat felt tight. "You too brother."

"I need you," Sonny coughed painfully, "I need you to do me a favor."

"Anything."

"I need you to tell Lisa—"

"No." Clay set his makeshift cooling rag down. This was too much. He couldn't go through this again. They'd almost lost Sonny in that torpedo tube and it had been hell. Somehow watching it happen in front of his eyes like this was worse. "No whatever you have to say, you're going to tell her."

"Please. You gotta tell her," Sonny swallowed trying for another breath, "tell her I still love her. And I wish," he coughed, "I wish it woulda gone different."

Clay swallowed down the tears filling his eyes as he gently stroked Sonny's damp hair. "Yeah. I can do that."

"Listen to me," Sonny wheezed. "If you can…if you can get out of here. You go. You leave me here and you go."

"I'm not leaving you," Clay said roughly.

"Don't be…an idiot. If you can leave…you get yourself out of here…and don't worry about me."

There was a commotion in the hall and the door opened, two men grabbing Clay and hauling him to his feet as Sonny slid off his lap. This time when he was dumped in front of Farhad he was alone. "What are you doing to my friend?" Clay asked.

"Your friend is dying," Farhad said. "I don't need him. He can't tell me what I want to know when he's barely conscious."

Clay felt the bite of the man's words in his gut. Time was running out and he had no way of helping either of them. "Just let us go man. Or ransom us or something," Clay begged, once again lying through his teeth. A ransom video might give the team something to go on. "My parents, they'll pay—"

"Enough!" The eyes turned on him were cold, glittering with hatred. "Enough of this nonsense. Tell me why you are in my country!"

"How many more times do I have to say it?" Clay asked. "We're just backpacking—"

The blow to his back pitched him forward so his forehead cracked against the floor and he saw stars. What followed immediately was an assault on his ribcage so brutal he could feel as each one of them cracked. He curled into a ball, tried to protect himself from the blows raining down on him but it was impossible and all he could do was continue to try and stay alive as pain radiated from every part of his body.

He wasn't sure how long it went on, he might have blacked out, but when it was finally over he could feel his right eye swelling shut and taste blood in his mouth. And breathing hurt like a bitch.

Farhad stooped low, speaking directly into his ear. "I am done. You think I am stupid? That I don't know your team must be looking for you? I have other ways of gaining information. By the time they arrives I will be long gone. I will kill you and your friend and your team will find nothing but your mangled bodies—"

There was a tremendous bang and the whole room shook. Farhad stood up. "Take him back. Find out what's going on. Now!"

Clay was dragged back to the cell, choking back cries of agony the entire way. They tossed him inside and he hit the floor with a strangled moan. He rolled onto his back and focused on staying conscious as each breath stabbed daggers through his chest.

"Clay?' His name came out of Sonny's mouth, raspy and choked.

"I'm all right," Clay managed to get out. "I'm okay. But I think our time's running out brother."

"Yeah," Sonny said, eyes closing again. "I thought it might be."

Clay was still trying to figure out what had spared him from immediate death. A gas explosion? An attack?

The familiar staccato of gunfire came from down the hall. "Sonny," Clay rasped. "Sonny d'you hear that?"

There was no response besides a labored, wheezing breath. "Sonny." He tried to slide closer, but every movement was agony, and he could only drag himself a few inches before he had to stop.

More gunfire, closer this time. Footsteps pounded down the hall and the next thing he knew Jason Hayes and Brock Reynolds were looking at him through the bars like he was some kind of zoo exhibit. "Oh thank god," Clay groaned as Jason used a key to open the door.

"Havoc Base this is Bravo One, we've got them. I repeat we have Sonny and Clay. Hey, you all right?" Jason dropped to his knees and put a hand on Clay's shoulder.

"Get—get Sonny," he moaned, curling in on himself as more pain stabbed through his ribs. "He's bad Jase, he's real bad."

Jason's eyes found Sonny in the far corner of the cell and he swore, keying his radio. "Bravo One to Bravo Four. Need you over here ASAP."

"Copy that Bravo One. On my way," Trent said.

"Can you sit up?" Jason asked Clay.

"Yeah, help me." Clay sucked in a breath and tried not to scream as Jason got him more upright, grabbing onto his boss' shoulder and squeezing tightly.

"Ribs?" Jason asked.

Clay nodded, trying to get the pain under control. "Sonny—"

"He's breathing," Brock assured him. He'd pulled Sonny into his lap, Cerb standing faithfully by his side.

"They dunked him," Clay said between shallow breaths. "A lot. He's got a fever, hasn't been able to breathe."

Trent arrived at that moment and got straight to work. "Here." He handed Jason a shot of morphine. Clay breathed a sigh of relief as it took the edge off his pain, bringing it down to a level that was tolerable enough for him to think again. He abruptly remembered the reason they were here in the first place. "Jase! Jase, Farhad is here. He—"

"We know," Jason said. "Don't worry, we've got it under control.

Trent did a cursory examination of Sonny. "Probably pneumonia," he said grimly. "His lungs sound bad. We gotta get him outta here."

"I can walk on my own," Clay said, but Jason silenced him with a look as he keyed his radio again. "Bravo Two how we looking out there?"

"Clearing you an exit now Bravo One."

"Time to go." Jason helped Clay to his feet. Even with the morphine. standing up doubled his pain and made his vision grey out.

"Hey, hey stay with me. We're almost home," Jason said roughly as Clay sagged against him.

Brock and Trent each took one side of Sonny and followed them down the hall. Clay spotted several bodies. Their boys had made quick work of the compound.

They made it almost all the way out of the building before they met resistance. Clay felt a horrible grating in his ribs as Jason took a sharp turn and shoved him behind a doorframe.

"Bravo Two we are taking heavy fire at the exit!" he yelled into the comms as he and Brock started firing back, while Trent held onto Sonny.

"Coming in hot!" Ray replied just before even more gunfire could be heard outside.

Within minutes the door was clear. "Let's get you out of here," Jason said, shouldering his weapon so he could get Clay up again.

They made it outside joining up with the rest of the team and a bunch of people in uniforms that Clay recognized as French special forces. "It is damn good to see your face," Ray told him.

"You too," Clay said, throat thick with relief.

"Let's get them in the truck. Sonny needs help fast," Trent said.

Clay didn't even protest when his position in the truck ended up being cradled against Jason's chest. He was exhausted and the morphine had started wearing off. "Start him on this." Trent tossed Jason a bag of fluid and Jason began the IV in Clay's arm while Trent hooked Sonny up to oxygen and his own IV's.

"He told me to leave him," Clay said, eyes glued to Sonny's face.

"Course he did," Jason muttered.

"They kept asking who we were. Wouldn't give it up. If you hadn't come when you did—"

"Hey, we got you now," Ray said with a nod. "It's all in the past."

Clay let out a moan as the truck hit a pothole, jostling everyone onboard. "How'd you find us?"

"Davis. All Davis," Jason said.

Thank god for that woman. He owed her so many beers. Heck he owed her a keg. Or maybe a yacht at this point.

Trent seemed satisfied with Sonny's condition so he turned and looked at Clay, reaching for his wrist to take his pulse. "I'm all right," Clay said, even though his head throbbed and his ribs felt like they'd been broken into thousands of tiny pieces.

"How's your breathing?"

"My lung's not punctured." Clay let out a grunt as Trent lifted his shirt and began probing at him. "Just feels like it."

"You could have internal bleeding."

Trent hit a particularly bad spot and Clay jolted, letting out a pained cry. "All right, all right take it easy," Jason said, as Clay fell back against him, heart hammering painfully in his chest. "You good?"

"Son of a bitch!" Clay gasped, fists clenched at his sides. "Oh god damn it that hurts!"

"Well your ribs are broke, of course they hurt," Trent said gruffly.

"Tell me you got Farhad," Clay said between gritted teeth. "Because if you didn't I'm going back there to kill him myself."

Jason nodded. "Metal, you ready?"

"We clear?" Metal asked.

"Roger that," Brock told him from the driver's seat.

"Then it's boom time." Metal pressed a trigger in his hand and Clay could hear an explosion in the distance.

"We got special permission to clean house," Ray said with a grin.

"Clean or wipe it off the map?" Clay let out a chuckle, which he immediately regretted as pain stabbed through him. "Sonny woulda liked that."

Ray looked at their buddy's prone form. "We'll tell him when he wakes up."


	6. Chapter 6

Sonny was choking. He was choking and he couldn’t breathe. His eyes flew open in panic, hands clawing at his throat, his face, trying to stop whoever was killing him. Alarms were going off, beeping everywhere, and people yelling. His hands were grabbed and he couldn’t fight off his attackers. He was going to die. But before he could panic about that he felt a heaviness flood through him and he drifted away.

The next time he woke up he was _not_ choking. A definite improvement. So was the bed he was lying on. Huh. Had their abductors decided to take things up a few levels? Was he a pretty princess locked in a tower now?

Risking a look he cracked an eye open and found white ceiling tiles rather than dirty cement. “Oh thank god,” he croaked out.

“Pretty sure it was Davis, not God,” said a familiar voice.

Turning his head Sonny spotted Clay in a matching hospital bed. “Hey, we’re both alive.”

“Surprise,” Clay said with a grin. “No thanks to you. You slept through the whole thing.”

“I’m willing to give you full credit,” Sonny said, wincing as he shifted in the bed. “Once you take into account the fact that I took the heat at the beginning to save your pretty face.”

Clay glared at him. “I have five broken ribs asshole.”

That took him aback. “Shit. When did that happen?”

“Right before the guys showed up.”

“Damn it.” Sonny shook his head. “Sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? You have such a bad case of pneumonia they had to intubate you. Which you did not like, by the way. Nearly gave the doctor a black eye the first time you woke up. Took both Trent and Jason to hold you down. They gave you so much sedation after that I thought you were going to sleep forever.”

Whoops. No wonder his throat was raw and his chest felt like it was full of fire. “How’d they find us?”

“Davis. And the girl who brought us the water and food.”

There was a lot more to that story but Sonny was too tired for all the details now. “How long have we been here?”

“Two days in a hospital overseas until you were good to travel. Only been home a day. I’m getting sprung tomorrow. You’re in for a while.”

Sonny frowned at him. “How come you get early release?”

“Because I’m the pretty one.”

Sonny tried to chuckle but it made him cough. Apparently he wasn’t quite back to top form. Fatigue was pulling at his eyes and he couldn’t seem to stop it. “They’ve got you on some pretty strong stuff,” Clay said, all teasing gone from his voice. “It’s all right if you need to take a nap.”

“Just a little one,” Sonny mumbled.

When he woke up the next time an oxygen mask had replaced the nasal cannula he’d been sporting earlier. A glance to his right told him Clay was sleeping and the darkness of the room told him it was late. Or maybe early. His internal clock was out of whack.

He felt worse than he had earlier. His head and joints ached again and he was sweaty but cold. Maybe the medication was wearing off.

Worse than all that, he had to pee. He wasn’t sure he could make it out of bed, let alone stand in front of a toilet, but when nature called…

He clumsily shoved the mask off his face and shifted, wincing in pain as he tried to sit up. He slid to the edge of the mattress, legs dangling in the air as the world tilted back and forth. Oh…this was probably a bad idea.

Something stirred in the corner next to him and nearly scared him out of his wits. “Sonny, what are you doing?” Lisa asked sleepily.

Apparently she had been sleeping by his bedside and she was looking at him like he’d lost his mind.

“Hitting the head,” Sonny told her.

“Uh, hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think they took care of that for you,” she said meaningfully, glancing down at his groin area.

It took his brain a second to catch what she was referring to; he hadn’t noticed the catheter earlier. “Well ain’t that a delight,” he drawled.

Moving to the edge of the bed had cost him. He felt shaky and just…sick. Davis sat forward, uncertainty on her face. “You all right?”

“I’ve…been better,” he admitted.

“You need help?”

His inclination was to say no, but damn it he wasn’t sure he could move. “Sonny?” The look in her eyes told him she was about to panic and call a nurse or something so he nodded. “Yeah. Please.”

She stood and helped guide him back against the pillows, pushing the oxygen back over his face. Her hand caressed his forehead, fingers trailing gently down his cheek. “Your fever keeps spiking and your lungs are full of fluid again. That’s why they put you back on oxygen. You want me to call a nurse?”

What he really wanted was for her to keep touching him like that. The tenderness of it after so many days of brutality made his throat tighten up as tears pricked his eyes. “No,” he said, voice muffled by the mask. “No I don’t need the nurse.”

She sat back down in the chair, sliding it a little closer to his bed. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

“This was the first I could get away,” she said. “I wanted to check on you. Both of you.”

Right, both of them. Her team members. That was why she was here. “You just decided to spend the night because…you like plastic hospital chairs?”

She shrugged. “You weren’t breathing very well. And I didn’t want to leave until I was sure you were okay.”

Oh. “I’m all right. Take more’n a bunch of bad guys to keep me down.”

She slid her hands up and down her legs like she did when she was nervous. “You uh mind if I stay and make sure?”

Lord he hoped she couldn’t tell that his heart monitor had started beeping faster. “Yeah, sure that’s fine.”

He must have drifted off after that because when he woke in the morning Lisa was gone and Clay was eating breakfast. “Told them you didn’t want any,” he said over a mouthful of hospital jello. “They let me have yours.”

Sonny rallied enough strength to toss a pillow at him, which Clay deflected easily, even with half a dozen broken ribs. Beyond that the day was pretty miserable. Clay was discharged which left Sonny bereft and lonely. His fever continued its up and down game, making him feel achey and ill and meant nurses were constantly in and out of the room.

He declined any and all sedatives they’d tried to force on him because he hated the way they muddled his brain, but it meant sleep was nearly impossible. He couldn’t get comfortable and every time he coughed it felt like his ribs were about to crack apart. It wasn’t a huge surprise therefore that Trent made an appearance in the evening. The look on his face said he was not here to say hello and keep Sonny company. “Hey there buddy,” Sonny wheezed.

“Don’t you even start with me.” Trent pointed a finger at him. “You’re being an asshole.”

“That’s not a very nice way to talk to your sick friend.” The long sentence cost him, making him cough weakly as his chest tightened.

“Yeah well I come in to check on you and find out you’re intent on undoing all the good work we did getting you out of that hellhole, I’m going to be a little pissed off.” Trent glared at him. “Why are you being such a problem?”

“I’m not being a problem,” Sonny said between labored breaths.

“You’re not taking your medicine.”

“It’s just a sedative.”

“To help you rest and get better. That’s how a body heals dumbass.”

“I don’t need to rest. I’m fine.”

“Sonny, I will tie you down to this bed and sedate you myself if you don’t knock it off. You want them to intubate you again? Because that’s what’s going to happen. Your lungs can’t take much more of this. They need to start healing and for that to work you need to rest.”

There was a bite to Trent’s tone and while he wasn’t yet punctuating every sentence with a swear word, Sonny could sense he was close to it.

He did feel like shit. Maybe a little sleep wasn’t such a bad idea. At the very least it would end this argument. He nodded and Trent immediately pressed the call button. A nurse arrived within minutes and Trent exchanged a few sentences with her before she adjusted the IV’s. Sonny felt his body start to relax and his head go floaty.

Trent dropped into the chair by his bed. “You staying?” Sonny asked.

“Gotta make sure all my hard work doesn’t go to waste.” Trent kicked his feet up on the bed. “Get some sleep.”

He had to admit, when he woke up he felt better. It was late again and the oxygen had been removed, which he hoped meant things were looking up. He was less achey and his head felt more clear. And breathing wasn’t quite as painful as before. He glanced to his left expecting to find Trent or one of the other guys, but was met with a different face. “How do you keep getting in here after hours?”

Lisa smiled and leaned forward in the chair, setting aside the book she’d been reading. “Charm. Looks. My officer’s badge doesn’t hurt either.” She studied him for a second. “You look better.”

“Yeah I feel a little better.” He shifted a bit, pressing the button on the bed that let him sit up higher. “Where’d Trent go?”

“Told him to head home for the night. Said I’d make sure you didn’t punch any more doctors or make any more nurses cry.”

“I didn’t make anybody cry. And I was basically unconscious when I hit that guy.”

“Apparently you still packed quite a punch.”

He cracked a smile. “Gotta keep my reputation. Wouldn’t want anyone to think I was a sissy.”

“Is that why you were refusing medication earlier?”

“I took the medicine!” Sonny grumbled in outrage. “I’ve been good!”

She snorted. “Only because Trent threatened you.”

“I still did it,” he said. “Why are you here again? Don’t you have better things to do than play doctor?”

“Thank you for assuming I’d be a doctor, not a nurse, and no. I don’t.”

She smiled at him and he felt something twist in his gut. He’d missed this so much; having her close, talking to her, just being together.

She sat forward, elbows on her knees. “You know you and Clay, you really scared us.”

“I hear I owe you a thank you. Seems like you were the one that put the pieces together. You want to tell me how exactly you managed that?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“I’m saying thank you! I’m being nice!”

“You’re trying to keep me from lecturing you on running an op when you’re not at one hundred percent.”

“I am always at one hundred percent!”

“Sonny don’t!”

The outburst startled him. “Just don’t,” she said, a little quieter this time. “Don’t pretend like this wasn’t a big deal. This was a verybig, _very_ bad deal.”

There were tears sparkling in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Well you did. You did, Sonny and I—“ Lisa shook her head. “I’m not ready to lose you.”

“You’re not going to lose me.”

“But I almost did. And I hate that. I hate that I’ve been pushing you away. And that you could have died before I—before we—“ She took a breath. “I didn’t want you to die thinking that we weren’t okay. Because we are. You and me. We’re okay.”

“I know.” He nodded. “I would have known. You don’t have to—“

“Could you please shut up and just let me say this?” she interrupted him, pausing to see if he would let her continue. “I was so fucking scared Sonny and I promised myself that if we—if I got you back that I would make sure you knew—” she hesitated and smiled ruefully, “God this all sounded so much better in my head.”

“Hey.” He touched her arm. “It’s okay.”

She stared at him for a second and then, without warning, grabbed his face, and kissed him. Hard. “Do not _ever_ get kidnapped and almost die again,” she said when she finally pulled away.

Before he could formulate any kind of response she was gone. He was alone again, heart thundering inside his chest. Damn. That hadn’t gone the way he’d expected. Not even a little bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *in a sing-song voice* This was supposed to be the last chapter but a certain couple cannot keep their hands or lips off each other no matter how hard I try so I guess I'm writing one moooooore! Literally it's like running into a brick wall until I let them just do whatever the heck they want and then voila! Magic!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I say Sonny and Lisa WOULD NOT cooperate for this chapter, I am not exaggerating. They were a nightmare and I am very grateful to bluenet13 for letting me moan about it. I think I finally appeased them, so here it is! The final chapter! Enjoy!

Sonny was released unceremoniously from the hospital two days later. Jason picked him up. His boss had spared him a lecture while he was still bound to his bed, but now Jason was unleashing. “Does it really matter?” Sonny finally broke in after about twenty minutes of ceaseless ranting. “Two of us would have been taken anyway, who cares if it was me?”

“I care!” Jason said, slamming his hand against the steering wheel. “If you had been in top shape you and Clay might have been able to get out of there on your own!”

Sonny rolled his eyes. “That place was a fortress Jase, you saw it. We weren’t getting out without help.”

Jason threw the truck into park and turned to glare at him. “This isn’t up for discussion. You’re an idiot and if you ever do it again you’re off the team. Got it?”

“Okay, all right.” Sonny held up his hands in surrender. “Next time I feel a sniffle coming on, I will shirk all my duties as a soldier fighting for the free world and stay at home in bed. I’m sure Al Qaeda and the Taliban and Hezbollah will be understanding.”

“Get out of the truck,” Jason growled, clearly annoyed with Sonny’s carefree attitude.

“What if I have a hangnail?” Sonny asked with a grin as he hopped out. “What’s that, like three days sick leave?”

“Sonny—“

“I’m just trying to make sure I understand the rules. How about a stubbed toe? What’s that worth?”

Jason pointed a threatening finger at him through the truck window. “Trent is coming by later. You’d better be here and you’d better be fine, or I’ll come back and kill you myself.”

“Yes sir!” Sonny sent him a mock salute as the truck pulled away from the curb.

He’d been with Jason long enough to know he wasn’t really mad. If he’d been _really_ mad there would have been a lot more yelling and he would have made Sonny walk home. Anger was Jason’s only way of expressing concern and Sonny took it for what it was.

He pushed open the door to his apartment and let out a breath of relief. It had only been about two weeks, but it felt like he’d been gone forever. Naima had clearly been by; there were cookies and a loaf of bread on the counter and milk, eggs, and cold cuts in the fridge. Sonny pulled out his phone and fired off a text of thanks.

He’d been home about half an hour when there was a knock on the door. Clay had arrived and he came with beer and food. “How’re the ribs?” Sonny asked as he cracked open a bottle and took a sip. God he missed beer when he was laid up in the hospital. A good reason to try and avoid more future visits.

“Sore,” Clay admitted. “Can’t work out or anything. Sucks.”

“Beats being dead.”

“True.” He took a couple bites. “So you uh, talked to Davis yet?”

Sonny blanched and set his beer back on the coffee table. He wasn’t sure how much Clay had heard from his own hospital bed. And generally they both kind of pretended like the Lisa thing hadn’t happened, for obvious reasons.

“Uh yeah,” he finally said.

Clay shot him a look. “Like really talked to her? Or just made nice and pretended like you’re not still head over heels in love with her?”

“I am not—“ He shook his head and resisted the urge to punch his brother. “It’s not like that.”

Clay rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay. Whatever.”

“This ain’t none of your business anyway,” Sonny grumbled, snatching up the last egg roll before Clay did.

“Well you kind of made it my business when you nearly died in my arms and your last wish was that I tell Lisa you still loved her. So did you do it or not?”

“What would even be the point of that? Long as we’re both with Bravo, nothing can happen.” He shook his head. “It’ll just screw things up again.”

“Listen, I know there are rules, you know there are rules. That doesn’t stop you from wanting what you want. And lying about it hasn’t done either of you any good. Might as well say what you have to say and figure the rest out after.”

“And what makes you the expert on love?” Sonny asked sourly.

“I may not be an expert, but at least I’m not a coward. Not everybody gets a second chance at this kind of thing. If I were you, I’d think about taking advantage of it.”

The words struck him exactly the way Clay intended. He’d almost died and now he had an opportunity to fix things. If he didn’t take it, he was some kind of fool. He hated when Clay was right.

There was some vindication and a lot of gloating a few days later when Sonny was cleared to go back to work before Clay. Apparently lungs got their shit together faster than bones.It was light duty only, but he’d take it.

There had been no word from Lisa. Not that he’d expected it. She’d sort of thrown the ball at his face with that kiss and it was up to him to do something with it.

That proved to be harder than he’d anticipated. Either Lisa was avoiding him or he had the worst timing in the world. She barely showed her face around the cages and anytime he saw her in the hallway she’d magically vanish with Mandy or Blackburn behind closed doors. He couldn’t get a minute alone with her so after a week, and several pointed text messages from Clay, he decided to catch her somewhere she couldn’t escape.

“Sonny, hey.” Lisa looked surprised and a little uncomfortable when she opened her door.

“Can I come in?”

“Sure.” She opened the door wide, letting him step in past her. “You look better.”

“Can’t keep a dog like me down for long,” Sonny said, wincing internally at how stupid it sounded. He was nervous. Shit. “Haven’t seen you around much lately.”

“Well when two of your team members go off and get abducted it means a lot of paperwork for the rest of us,” she said, throwing him a pointed look.

“Sorry about that.”

Silence stretched between them. God this was so much more awkward than he’d thought it would be, both of them just standing there in her living room. Maybe he should have thought this through a little more before driving over. “So,” he finally said.

Lisa tucked her hands into her back pockets and shrugged. “So?”

Sonny cleared his throat. “Back in the hospital—“

She blushed and cut him off. “Yeah I’m really sorry about that. It was completely inappropriate. I just got…caught up in the moment.”

His heart sank a little. “So you didn’t mean all that stuff you said about worrying and being afraid I was going to die…”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course I meant it. I care about you Sonny. As a friend,” she added. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Only as a friend huh?” He took a step closer to her. “You kiss all your friends like that?”

She swallowed hard. “I mean, we have a history. I guess some of those feelings die hard. It won’t happen again.”

She was giving him an out. He could take it and let things stay the awkward, painful way they had been. Or…

Heart pounding in his chest, he took another step toward her and cradled her face in his hands.

“Sonny what are you doing?” Lisa asked, eyes wide.

“Something inappropriate,” he breathed.

Before she could say anything more he pressed his lips to hers. When she’d kissed him in the hospital he’d barely had time to process it, let alone enjoy it. This time he felt the way she melted into him, arms going around his neck as she rose up onto her tiptoes, the feel of her against him so familiar and right.

By the time he pulled away they were both breathing raggedly. He touched his forehead to hers. “When I was lying there on that filthy fucking floor, all I could think about was how I’d pushed you away. And how it was the worst mistake of my life. I should have fought for you, Lis. All those months I spent being mad, it wasn’t worth it. It didn’t fix anything or make me feel any better, much as I pretended it did.”

She closed her eyes, tears clinging to her lashes. “Sonny I—“

“Shh…just listen,” he said softly. “I need to get this out. What we had, that was a once in a lifetime kind of thing. I shouldn’t have let you go.” He swallowed and stroked her cheek with his thumb. “I’m done lying to myself and I’m done lying to you. I still love you Lisa. I think…I think maybe I always will. And if you just want to be friends, that’s fine by me. I’m not expecting anything of you here or giving you an ultimatum I just, I wanted you to know how I feel.” He looked directly into her eyes. “I want you back in my life whatever way you want to be.”

The beat of silence that followed felt like an eternity. He couldn’t read her face at all and he felt uncertainty twist in his stomach. This had all seemed like the right move but…“Do you want me to leave?” he asked. “If I’m making you uncomfortable, or you don’t want—I can—“

Her lips founds his again, insistent and wanting, pulling the air from his lungs. God he hoped this meant what he thought it did.

“I love you too,” she whispered when she finally pulled away.

“God damn it Davis,” he said, relief crashing over him. “You can’t do that to a man, just staring at me like that when I’ve poured my whole heart out. I thought you were about to kick me to the curb!”

“You told me to be quiet! I didn’t know if you were finished with your grand speech or not!”

“I mean I can go on if there’s more you need to hear—“

“Sonny? Shut up.”

They were kissing again and it was like no time had passed at all. His body remembered hers, anticipating what she would do before it happened. He backed her against the wall as she tugged his shirt free of his pants.

When he moved his lips to her neck she let out a breathy moan, making him grin as he pressed kisses into her skin. Her hands slipped under his shirt, sending goosebumps up and down his spine and he pulled back only long enough to rip it off over his head and throw it to the floor before reaching for the button on her jeans.

“Well, that was even better than I remembered,” Sonny said a little later, wrapping his arms around her, holding her securely against his chest as he pulled a blanket down over both of them. They’d only made it as far as the couch. Typical.

“It was always something we excelled at,” she said. She shifted, resting her chin on her hands so she could look at him.

“So if that kiss in the hospital was inappropriate, what do you call this?” he asked with a smirk.

She sighed. “Probably inevitable.”

“Probably. You uh, you still feeling good about this?”

“I mean, I can’t say I’m not a little worried about what the future is going to look like…”

“Then don’t think about it,” he said. “Not right now.”

She was quiet for a moment, contemplating his words before seeming to take them to heart, moving up so she could kiss him. “I missed you Sonny. I’m glad you’re home.”

Home. Not just on American soil or back at his place. Home with her. “Yeah. Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all saw the problem right? I wanted Savis to have a sweet, mellow ending and they just wanted to have sex. Like I could not write around it. Hopefully I did it justice. Thanks to everyone who followed along, I'm hoping to have some new things coming soon!

**Author's Note:**

> So how'd I do? Whumpy enough for you? I know, some of you are wanting even more Clay whump. It's coming. Trust me. I may have taken a few liberties with the stun gun stuff. I've never been shot by one (thankfully) and I may have sped the recovery time up a bit to suit story purposes. Or Clay's just like...really strong or something. Take your pick.


End file.
